For many years chimney sweeps have cleaned chimneys using brushes that attach to a series of rods that extend the length of the brush. More recently, sweeps have attempted to use a motor, such as a power drill motor, to spin the rods to improve cleaning efficiency. Unfortunately, this design has not proven satisfactory since the design of known chimney cleaning brushes does not prevent the bristle ends from getting caught between gaps between flue tiles. This can cause injury to the operator if the spinning rods are suddenly stopped, which causes the drill to flip. Numerous sweeps have been injured operating these chimney cleaning devices.
It is also known to perform a video scan of a chimney flue to determine if there are defects in the flue liners. These defects may include cracked liners or mortar missing from between the 2 foot sections of clay flue liners. The scan may be performed by attaching a specially designed, lighted camera system to flexible 3-4 ft. rods. This is either lowered in from the top or pushed up from the bottom. Additional rods are added as the camera is lowered or pushed up into the chimney. These cameras have the ability to document defects as they are viewed on a monitor. In some cases the cameras have the ability to take photographs of any flue defects.
It is also known to control the dust caused by disturbing the soot and debris in a chimney. Most commonly, a large and cumbersome vacuum system is used. Alternatively, a squirrel cage type blower may be used to cover the flue opening on top of the flue to pull the dust out. Both methods are time consuming and cumbersome, and can be difficult to set up to properly ensure efficient dust removal.
As further background to the invention, it is known to use a brush attached to a flexible, rotating shaft (where a flexible shaft spins within a flexible outer casing) powered by an air driven or electric motor to clean residential and or commercial duct work. These duct systems exist primarily in horizontal configurations with short vertical duct shafts. The vertical portions of duct work for moving air are primarily less than 10 feet in length before terminating with an opening for delivering the air to the area intended. The primary purpose to clean ducts for moving air is to remove dust and other contaminates which may gather over time. These contaminates will primarily gather in the horizontal portions of the ducts while the short vertical ducts remain comparatively clean.
Flexible rotating shafts have been generally effective for cleaning duct systems because they are primary lowered downward through each opening of the short vertical portion of duct work. The shaft is then easily manipulated through the horizontal portion to the air plenum.
In the chimney setting though, the situation is somewhat different, and attempts to incorporate the “duct cleaning” technology to the chimney sweeping field have not been successful because the flexible shafts used by the duct cleaning art have not been effective for cleaning chimneys or long vertical ducts. For safety and a greater ability to control dust, most chimneys today are cleaned from the bottom up, from the inside to the outside. If the shaft is flexible enough to be conveniently transported in a coil through a customer's living area, it is not rigid enough to be forced up the average chimney flue. Additionally, it has been found that when flexible shafts are used to spin the brush head, the brush will “ride up” one side of a lengthy vertical shaft or chimney flue and will not stay centered as to evenly clean all sides of the flue.
If the shaft is constructed with enough rigidity as to allow it to be pushed upward from the bottom opening to the top opening of the flue it cannot be conveniently transported and must also be straightened out before it can be used. This requires two operators and is impractical. For example, if the shaft is of sufficient length to clean the average two-story chimney from a basement access port, it must generally be at least 32 feet in length. This requires a corresponding 32 feet of linear space in the house to allow the shaft to be straightened out or snaked about in a relatively straight manner. When that is done, the drill or powering device is 32 feet away from brush or cleaning head, which requires constant communication between the drill operator and the brush operator to ensure safe operation and avoid allowing the soot covered shaft from to come in contact with the interior finishes and furnishings.
It can be seen from the above that a need exists for improved devices and methods for cleaning a chimney. The present invention addresses that need.